The Revealed Crisis
by Random Mobile Suit Pilot
Summary: Sixteen is bored while after he sent people into a Star Wars Universe, so in the meantime he sets up a movie theater so people can watch the past. Of course that means dragging Avalanche, the Turks, and others to join in on the events. T just in case for Barret and Cid
1. Chapter 1

The Revealed Crisis

Prologue: Boredom Returns

 **Warning, the beginning begins with some minor fourth wall breaking/ genre awareness.**

 **IDS Dimension 98: Personal Dimensional Space**

Sixteen is bored. Having sent off the three to fulfill their task of changing the course of that universe, there was once again a vast emptiness off time. He has no need to focus on observing the three of them 24/7. No other projects were pending review and he was still hidden away from the current government of Neutrality. Unlike Seventeen who views what is going on with wide eyes and a shiny glow, Sixteen has long lost the spark for such actions. Now the tension of waiting for either opponent or change easily gets to him.

He wandered around the empty space, occasionally pulling out a report before immediately discarding it. Before long, the once empty space that filled his life was cluttered with past reports.

 _Birth of a New Lieutenant!_

 _Recently, the Grand Dimensional Lord Anonymous has appointed yet another candidate to replace the aging Sixteen, the former Lieutenant having served for 14982 years in service to Neutrality. The new Sixteen was quoted-_

 _Victory at Loq Viep_

 _The ten day long assault upon the frontier dimension La-_

 _Missing!_

 _Many of Anonymous' Lieutenants have mysteriously disappeared after a encrypted file was sent to them. Those that remained claimed to have no idea where the rest went. If the ones that remained are -_

In this way even the important files got mixed together with news articles. It was while walking around discarding files that Sixteen tripped over the aforementioned mess. His face spectacularly fell onto a book. Pulling his face up off of the book, Sixteen began to to throw the book when the title caught his eye.

 **Showing the Past off to People for Dummies**

Sixteen had read the book before, and has already implemented this into changing dimensions, but was at an impasse because of how much of waiting there was to do. So he pulled up a chair skimmed the book, and tossed it it the pill he just got off of.

Still bored, the book stayed on his mind until he at last decided to act upon it. It would be killing two birds with one stone; he would relieve his boredom and also change a dimensions direction.

He grabbed a file he had discarded earlier and looked through it looking for dates and people. Eventually he arrived at one selection.

 **Crisis**

 **Zack Fair**

All he would have to find now are viewers.

 **Gaia: Midgar**

A man with large blade has just joined his companions in front of what appears to be a massive reactor. Before the large man with a gun arm can say anything though, they vanish into thin air.

Elsewhere a girl is selling flowers from her basket. Before she can call out to another customer she too vanishes.

In the slums, a girl is taking a short break, looking after a bar and her friend's daughter by herself, worry for her friends hidden, before vanishing with the girl.

In Hojo's laboratory, a canine like creature bids his time to murder the mad scientist before he disappeared.

The son of a President conspires with four suites people at his side before they are pulled away from their world.

A man works on creating multiple robotic moogles and cats before vanishing with them.

 **Rocket Town**

An engineer is yelling at a woman for tea before they abruptly disappear.

 **Forest**

A young ninja laughs at her latest marks falling for her "save icon" trap and pockets the materia before disappearing.

 **Shinra Manor**

A man cloaked in velvet slumbers, believing that sleeping is the best way to atone for his sins, before he teleports, leaving his empty coffin behind.

 **IDS Dimension 98: Personal Dimensional Space**

Immediately after Sixteen had activated the gathering device, his irritation returned.

 _It works so well when you know who you want, but when you just want a general concept it takes so damm long to activate! Then it doesn't actually bring them to you, nope. You have to go out to each dimension individually to grab them them. But give it a name and BAM, I brings them right to you. All that time I've…_

Will thinking these thoughts, the machine finished its calculations and flashed. The room became gold temporarily while Sixteen attempted to readjust his eyes. When he was done, there were twenty people, if you include the robots, before him.

"Ah, finally. How about some introductions everyone?"

At once all eyes converged on him.

The man with the large sword stepped forward, blade ready. "Why don't you go first?"

Sixteen's left hand went to his chin for a moment. "Yeah, that probably the normal response."

He returned his gaze to everyone around him.

"I'm Sixteen, Dimensional Lieutenant, nice to meet you."

The man with the sword didn't relax as he responded, "Cloud Strife, ex-SOLDIER first-class."

The gun arm man stepped forward. "Now listen here man, there ain't no reason to listen to all this bullsh-"

The girl with the small child next to them scolded, "Barret, language!"

Barret turned to face the girl, his eyes widened as he exclaimed, "Marlene! What are you doing here?!"

"Please, finish introductions first."

At prodding from Sixteen, Barret reluctantly spat out, "Barret Wallace, Avalanche leader.

At once the people in suits drew their guns; in response the people with Barret did the same. All at once, each person was slammed against the floor.

"I said, finish introductions."

While his guests could not see his face, they would have likely believed that he was dead, with how the coldness in his eyes accumulated.

"Can you let them up please?" The flower girl asked in such a way that Sixteen wondered if she was even slightly frightened of his actions. As if answering him she replied, "the Planet doesn't dislike you, though it does find you a bit odd."

Comprehension grasped Sixteen as he realized what the girl was. Nodding his head, the intense pressure on the people around lifted.

Getting up, the next person that began speaking was the girl that was with Barret. "Names Jesse, this here is Biggs and Wedge. We're Avalanche too.

Next up when the small child known as Marlene. "I'm Marlene, and don't hurt my daddy again!"

Attempting to put the child behind her, the bar girl gave her own introduction. "Tifa Lockhart, member of Avalanche and bartender of the Seventh Heaven bar."

Nodding at that, Sixteen nodded towards to suitted group, to which the man with robots have moved closer to.

"Rufus Shinra, heir to the Shinra corporation."

At this Avalanche began to move but was backed down after a glare was shot their way.

"Tseng, leader of the Turks"

"Names Reno yo!"

"Rude."

"Elena, I'm new here so please take care of me!"

To this Reno laughed while Tseng sighed. "Elena, say that to us after we're not near our enemies."

To this Elena blushed and hid her face.

"R- Reeve Tuesti, head of Urban Development."

With a nod at that, Sixteen looked towards the unaffiliated people.

Taking a step forward, the flower girl began. "Aerith Gainsborough, flower girl."

Next up, the canine creature went. "I don't deserve my old name. For now call me what Hojo calls me, Red XIII."

Next up was the engineer, "Names Cid Highwind, this here's my idiot assistant Shera."

His assistant spluttered out a weak nice to meet you before stepping back.

The final person stepped up. "I'm the great ninja Yuffie! Now, give me your materia!"

Sixteen sidestepped Yuffie's grab before addressing everyone. "Ok then, introductions are done. Now, you were wondering why we are here, right?"

At this several people nodded.

"Well you see, the answer's real simple."

Spinning around in a circle, the stark white of the room changed into that of a sprawling movie theater.

"We are going to be watching the past of your world!"

They looked at him like he was an idiot as he went on. "Well it's more the recent past, 6 years is very recent in comparison to some stuff, but it's still important."

At the mention of six years Tseng freezes, knowing of what began six years ago. The others though are ignorant as to the significance of 6 years other than Aerith, for that is when she met her first boyfriend.

"Well then take your places everyone, and let's begin".

—-

A/N

 **1- Intentionally misspelled, sometimes the news misspells stuff**

 **Ok so gave some background this chapter on Sixteen, not smooth sailing for him. I do plan on having some interconnectedness with what goes on in his life and the the rest of what goes on.**

 **The people that he grabbed are**

 **Cloud Strife**

 **Tifa Lockhart**

 **Aerith Gainsborough**

 **Barret**

 **Biggs**

 **Wedge**

 **Jesse**

 **Cid**

 **Shera**

 **Vincent**

 **Rufus**

 **Tseng**

 **Reno**

 **Rude**

 **Elena**

 **Marlene**

 **Yuffie**

 **Reeve**

 **Caith Sith**

 **Moogle**

 **So, as a Watching the series, there will be summaries so it doesn't violate guidelines**

 **I have no experience writing such a fic before so, you know, don't expect too much.**

 **I plan to get through Crisis Core, eventually. It will take some time. Much like if you look at my Star Wars series I update low. Though it should be easier to write this since I don't need to think of stuff the change the universe with, yet.**

 **(4/7/2019) well, turns out I'm slow with this as well, mostly changing stuff I've already done rather than continue on. Will hopefully make chapter 2 (part 3) before the end of April. Also just realized I never finished/ posted chapter 1, that'll be posted with this minor revision. Also edited some stuff I did for Sixteen's backstory, because it didn't make sense with what I had planned.**

 **I was planning on having Kunsel be here as well, but I planned on him being a drunkard now. Doesn't really work for me right now in the fic.**

 **Reason why I made this fanfic:**

 **I know I am slow with my other one, but I've been into the whole 'reading/watching' fan fiction series now and there is a lack of such for Final Fantasy VII, not to mention Crisis Core. I will not be going into Before Crisis as I did not play it, though I may reference it from time to time for reactions. Also some parts will be different, such as Kunsel giving tutorials, that will be him joking around or something, we'll see**

 **Read, like, review, critique,**

 **Please help or beta.**

 **Co writer or ask for me to co write would be awesome**

 **Next up: Zack showing off on a train and why you don't fight Sephiroth or Sephiroth clones with easily breakable blades.**


	2. Chapter 2

The Revealed Crisis

Chapter 1 - Of Soldiers and Training

While Sixteen started up the viewing, everyone settled into their respective groups.

The Turks were clustered together while being close enough to watch over Rufus, with Reeve being as close to them as one could be while trying to stay away.

Avalanche sat clustered around Marlene, with the child sitting on Barret's knee, and Tifa trying to be as close to Cloud, who was trying to sit somewhere else.

Cid laid back in a seat with Shera a few seats over, leaving him plenty of room to stretch.

Yuffie sat by herself, her eyes darting back and forth between potential victims and the screen that had yet to start.

Vincent stood near the rear of the room, eyes scanning over all.

Aerith sat in the middle, unaffected by the tension between Avalanche and the Shinra groups.

After a moment, the screen began playing, and **Midgar appeared to dramatic music. Suddenly, as the view switch to the tracks, a train blew past. A helicopter flew by mentioning how Wutai troops had taken control of the train. As the helicopter drew closer a young man appears at the helicopter's doors, before shouting and jumping out, his companion's shout lost behind him.**

Aerith's face went ashen at the sight of her long missing boyfriend, a sharp reminder of how young he once was and not burdened like how he was before he went to Nibelheim.

Tseng's facial expression didn't change, with the clenching of his hands little indication that he reacted to his friend's reappearance, with Reno and Rude the only witnesses.

Yuffie's reaction was on another spectrum though. "Hey! That's the bad guy I beat up and stole materia from!"

At this everyone turned to face her inquiring how she knows him. Before anyone can say anything the man's companion joined him on the train, reminding him of the mission.

 **At once the man, addressed as Zack, grinned in excitement and began running down the train. He makes it over several cars before suddenly, gunfire breaks out of the car below him. In his attempts to evade it, he falls over and as he gets back up he shouts a quick greeting as he rushes off. In front of him, several troops have appeared and have begun firing at him.**

People who have never watched SOLDIER or have worked beside them let out a gasp as they saw how easily Zack cut through them. Cloud scoffed at their reactions; if they were that impressed by a Second Class, they would be more than satisfied with his being an ex First. For some reason though, the sight of the man made him feel uneasy. Did he know him while he was in SOLDIER?

 **As he made his way through the troops, up ahead additional troops appeared with RPG's. In seconds the SOLDIER is in the air, soaring over the rockets and soldiers in a single leap, smirking while he does so. Shouting his name and rank, SOLDIER Second Class Zack Fair cut the connection between the train cars, allowing the enemies to fall behind.**

It took a second for anyone to respond.

"Damn Spike, we should have hired you to distract Shinra by yourself!" Barret laughed out, watching people in Shinra uniforms getting tossed about even though they weren't actually Shinra put him in a good mood. His hands covered Marlene's eyes so that she couldn't see the violence, but one could easily see her head trying to get a good view.

Cloud nodded, his unease towards the man growing. His fighting style was so similar to his own, did they train together, if so why can he not remember him?

Aerith simply continued to smile over Zack's antics as he jumped off the train and into the station.

 **Zack was contacted on his phone by the man whose name was revealed to be Angeal. While being reminded of where to go, enemy troops appeared and opened fire on him. After dealing with the threat, he moved on to a plaza area, where a Behemoth was rampaging about.**

The audience watched as Zack danced around the Behemoth, dodging all of its attacks before finishing it off, cheering as Zack put away his blade.

 **A blade appeared at Zack's back along with a reprimand. At this Zack began to turn around.**

"That bastard!" All eyes turn to Cloud, his hands gripping the chairs armrests, knuckles slowly turning white.

Tifa's own look was that of horror, her own face turning as white as the demon appeared before their eyes.

 **Sephiroth unleashed a series of blows at Zack. Returning to Zack, he attempts to push back against the superior strength that Sephiroth possesses, before being thrown back with his blade breaking. The screen changed to Angeal getting a message and running off.**

The audience watched with bated breath as Sephiroth crept close to Zack before finally angling his blade and stabbing forward.

 **Clang! Zack looked up to see the remains of his blade being held by Angeal, blocking Murasame from piercing his body. With a sigh at Zack, Angeal stood up, with Sephiroth taking a step back. With a few presses of a button on his phone, it is revealed that the entire mission was a simulation.**

"You mean to tell me the entire time the whole thing was fake!" Barret.

"Bloody & $&!" Cid gave his own view on the matter.

Rufus and the rest of Shinra knew though, those simulations can kill.

The comments quieted down when Angeal brought up Zack's still broken sword.

"It can cause actual harm?!"

Aerith gave a worried glance towards Tseng, who merely gave a small nod towards the screen, at which Aerith relaxed. Zack survives and he would eventually meet her. Her spirits fell again as she realized that it could mean they would watch what happened to him. While some part of her desperately wants to know what happened, a part of her that knows fears for details. Remembering his hunched shoulders and his fat away gaze on worse days caused her to shiver.

 **While Zack is still staring at his sword Angeal began walking away, leaving Zack looking confused with one last saying.**

" **If you want to be a hero, you need to have dreams… and honor."**

All was silent for a moment after Angeal left as all pondered what he meant, when the moment was ruined by Sixteen.

"I like this guy!"

—-

 **A/N**

 **I really should stop writing this series on my phone and write it on a computer, like my other series.**

 **Don't have any real notes this time, though advice on how to handle their reactions would be nice.**

 **Advice and Beta-ing would always be appreciated**

 **As always, read, review, critique, help me**

 **Next up, Wutai! Before! During! Yuffie! That doesn't make sense!**


	3. Chapter 3

The Revealed Crisis

Chapter 2 - Wutai Fights, Angeal Flights and Yuffie Strikes!

Silence reigned in the theater as both groups and individuals stared deadpan at Sixteen. Yuffie's unamused state appeared to be as unamused as Vincent 's normal stare.

Barret was the first to make noise in the silence. "Why the %{& did you ruin that moment?!"

Sixteen merely shrugged his shoulders before turning back and resuming the viewing.

 **Onscreen Zack is shown doing squats in an open area in a hall. A moment later, another person wearing a SOLDIER outfit walked up to him, before sitting down on the nearby steps.**

"Who's that?" At that people turned towards the Shinra for the answer. However, it would be Sixteen, not Tseng that would answer.

"SOLDIER Second Class Kunsel, I don't know his last name." At once a folder appeared in his hands. "No where in Shinra personal files do they list his last name, just Kunsel."

"That's because there was no last name." At that eyes turned towards the Turk. "When Kunsel applied for SOLDIER, he gave no last name nor place of origin."

Hearing that caused Tifa to raise an eyebrow. "And you didn't think it was suspicious?"

Tseng shrugged his shoulders. "It didn't matter, he was a viable candidate for the program, so he was accepted."

Before anyone else could say anything, the screen continued onwards.

 **Kunsel comments that Zack must be busy, to which Zack replies that he wants to be doing missions, not more training, before commenting about the lack of people that are on base. Kunsel is understandably confused as he corrects Zack about the mass desertion. Before anyone could turn and ask about the mass desertion, the screen continued with Zack finishing up his talk with Kunsel before getting summoned to the SOLDIER Command room by Angeal. Once there, the screen showed the only other inhabitants of the room, Angeal and a guy with blond hair in a suit. The man soon introduced himself as Lazard, director of SOLDIER. The screen in the room changes to a picture of a man in a red coat, with various miscellaneous articles filling the screen. Lazard asked Zack if he knew anything about the man, SOLDIER First Class Genesis Rhapsodos, before continuing with informing him he was going to Wutai to end the war.**

At that Yuffie shouted "Boo!" before realizing that she would also have an appearance because of that.

Nobody else beside those affiliated with Shinra knew what to expect. After all, the war was ended by Sephiroth, though nobody believed Shinra news.

Reeve had heard of the PR plan to have Sephiroth take credit for ending the war, though he did not know about the specifics behind it.

 **After the briefing finished, Zack left the room to grab his stuff and ran into Kunsel, who jokingly told him not to forget his sword this time. After Zack returned from preparing, Lazard also informed Zack that he was going with.**

 **The scene shifts to show Zack and Angeal walking through a wooded area, with Angeal regaling Zack with a story from his childhood about dumbapples. overlook a fort. Zack and Angeal hide on a cliff overlooking the fort as Angeal goes over the plan again.**

"So, if Sephiroth is the badass, why ain't he doing the big job?"

"It's because he's the 'badass' that he's the distraction."

 **Unable to beat waiting, Zack begin doing his habitual squats, before commenting that he's never seen Angeal use that sword.**

Eyes turn to face Cloud at that comment. Before, people noticed but never bothered to point out the startling similarities between Angeal's and Cloud's sword. However, there were still startling differences between the two. Whereas one blade was finely polished and of sturdy structure, the other has rusted and seemed to be weakened greatly. Where one blade is sharp, the other has dulled with nicks adorning the blade.

"Before anyone can comment about the blades, you'll find out in the movie." Sixteen's comment brought everyone's attention back to the video.

 **Continuing on, Angeal talks about the waste using the sword would bring, and the honor that it represents. Before long, there's an explosion off in the distance, and Zack heads off to do his part. Arriving at the gate of the fort, he quickly cuts through a few soldiers before the rest notice and open fire on him.**

Throughout this part, Yuffie constantly booed Zack as he cut through Wutai soldiers with ease. Everyone else merely watched, impressed, though Barret was disgusted with himself for even slightly liking the guy.

 **Finishing off the soldiers on the wall with fire spells, Zack heads inside where he's informed that he'll get a better performance based out how many Wutai troops he clears out** (to which Yuffie tries to yell, but gets silence casted on her by Sixteen). **Clearing out all of the troops, Zack is congratulated, then moves on to the inner area of the fort. Clearing out all of the grunts, he ends up in front of a fountain with a statue of some sort of creature on it. Zack is quickly informed that it represents Leviathan and turns to come face to mask with the Crescent Unit, Wutai's elite troops. The unit captain attempts to convert Zack to their side, but the two sides soon come to blows.**

The self-proclaimed great ninja Yuffie glared at the screen, watching as Zack took down the remainder of the troops without breaking a sweat.

Avalanche members didn't know how to react to this. Zack as a person seemed perfectly likeable, though he decided to work for an atrocious company.

Rufus noted that even though Zack was partially swayed by what the Wutai was saying, he stuck to his decision to work for Shinra. He held a modicum of respect for the loyalty shown.

 **In the end Wutai's elite troops end up being no match for the prospective First, as he ends up being the only one standing. However, members of the audience notes that none of the Crescent unit were killed. The leader asks why he'd do such a thing, to which replied that he wasn't in the mood. The captain informs him that they'll return to have his head, with stating that he'll be waiting.**

With the fight over, people around the room began to relax, with the non-Barret members of Avalanche seemingly having the most enjoyment out of those present.

 _Who is that guy?_ Cloud's unease towards the man had evolved into a ringing migraine. The way he moved, the way he fought, it appeared to be a similar style to Cloud's. No, if anything, it was more diverse than Cloud's. If anything, Zack looked like the original owner of the fighting style. Was that it? Did he learn the fighting style from Zack? If so, why doesn't he remember him at all? For that matter, why doesn't he remember the war with Wutai or the mass desertions? What's going on here?

Tifa sneaks glances towards Cloud every now and again, noticing that as time has gone by, he seems more and more focused on Zack than anything in the present. It was quite unnerving to be honest, with him not acting like himself, with the same blade that Zack had appeared in Nibelheim. They had to have had a connection somewhere. Somewhere deep down she recalled the last thing she said to him in the reactor. Now, she doesn't even know what had happened then, nor what happened to Cloud. She hated being the one out of the loop.

Aerith remained calm, though worried throughout the viewing. Knowing he never came to any real harm before they met was reassuring, though she still felt a bit of panic when an attack wanders close to Zack.

Yuffie ended up on the edge of her seat, eagerly anticipating the massive beat down she gave the bad guy. She appreciated Zack sparing those guys, along with all of the help he gave during the treasure hunts, but in the end, he was still a bad guy!

 **Before Zack could reach the stairs, a voice emerges from above. It goes on saying various things, before ending up with bad guys needing to get beaten. Zack looks up to see a small child declare that she was going to beat him.**

All eyes turn to face Yuffie who cheers as she appears dramatically on screen.

"Yo, squirt?! You were there too?!"

Yuffie flares up at the rude gun-arm man, before replying. "Of course I was there! The great ninja Yuffie is always around to beat up bad guys and steal their materia!"

Marlene gave the ninja girl a quizzical glance, wondering what exactly she means by that.

 **Back on screen, Zack just finished asking himself what he was supposed to do in situations like these, when younger Yuffie runs up to him and whaled away at him. Real Yuffie cheers as screen her lands combo after combo on the SOLDIER. Before long, Zack collapses dramatically, leaving both Yuffie's to declare victory, and the one on-screen to run away cheerily. Real Yuffie stops cheering when a few seconds after she leaves Zack leaps to his feet, not at all hindered by her assault.**

Laughter erupts in the theater, with Barret and Cid providing the majority of the noise. Yuffie shrinks into her seat, her face slowly growing redder, with Aerith Tifa, and Marlene going over to comfort the great ninja. Yuffie became even redder when Marlene started patting her head.

Aerith was happy to see that Zack played along with the kid and was hit with the reminder of how kind and helpful he was to the people of the slums.

Cloud couldn't help but smirk at Yuffie's antics and Zack's completely lackadaisical attitude towards the attempt to beat him up. As if an untrained child could take on SOLDIER and actually win. There was something in that attitude though, that just rang out to him.

 **Zack continued onwards into the structure ahead. As soon as he approached the center of the room, two large grotesque creatures, each with an axe, dropped from the ceiling. Getting out of the way, Zack announced that they must be the anti-SOLDIER monsters.**

All eyes stared at the monsters, unknowing what to say, except for one voice.

"What the ^]}#?!"

 **The two monsters fought in sync, each attacking to keep Zack off balance, with occasionally throwing their axes at the same time. Zack nimbally kept out of the way and it wasn't long before a burst of energy appeared from around him.**

"A limit break." Eyes went towards Cloud, eyes viewing the spectacle. He wasn't sure, but he felt that that limit break and his own was going to be similar.

 **Zack began a series of slashes that when ended felled one of the creatures. In anger the other one charged towards him, intending to avenge its brethren, only to fall to a** _ **fire**_ **to the face. The avalanche members who were not Barret cheered, with several other members following suit.**

 **It was too early to celebrate, as a third one dropped in from the ceiling. Zack took it down with one strike, and turned his back on it.**

"How many of those things ya got, you brat!"

"As many as it takes to get rid of the bad guys, old man!"

 **The creature suddenly bashed Zack from behind, before drawing it's weapon to finish him off.**

"Zack!" Aerith crowd out upon hearing him scream. His laying there embodied the fears she had when he went off on missions. She knows that he survived this and was as happy and go lucky as ever when they met, so what could have been so bad as to cause his spirit to dampen.

Yuffie scoffed. She knows he survives because she stole that broken materia from him later. Then a thought occurred to her, maybe he was a ghost! She felt a shiver crawl down her spine before a different question popped up. Do ghosts have email?

 **While Aerith frets and Yuffie questions life, Zack is shown trying to get up before the monster can swing. Before he can, the monster does.**

 **Clang!**

 **Zack opened his eyes to reveal Angeal standing before him, wiping the remaining blood off of his sword.**

A collective sigh of relief was released at seeing Angeal save the day, almost preventing people from hearing the conversation between the two.

 **Zack rubbed his head as he apologized. "Sorry if your sword got any wear, tear, or rust on it."**

 **Angeal gave him a smile. "You're a little more important than my sword, … but just a little."**

People laughed at Zack for using Angeal's own words, and smiled at Angeal's warm-hearted words towards Zack.

 _Is this the man behind his sadness?_ Aerith thought. His presence seemed familiar, as though he's been around the church before. It came to her out of nowhere. _His face! It's the same as the one on that fella._ There has been a creature with that man's face that appeared one day when Zack was visiting and it helped protect the church against the occasional monster since. At least, until she gave it a letter.

As if sensing what she was thinking, Sixteen brought a finger to where his mouth should be and made a gesture that seemed to indicate he was telling her to be quiet.

 **As Zack and Angeal meet up with Lazard in the woods, the three are attacked by masked assailants. The abrupt change in atmosphere surprised the non-Shinra viewiers, not knowing of the attack. The pair easily drive off the group attacking them with Angeal ordering Zack to protect the director. After forcing his way through a few more groups of assailants and delivering Lazard to the safety of Shinra troops, on his way back to look for Angeal a small red materia is activated in front of Zack.**

"An Ifrit Materia!" Yuffie leaned forward in her seat as if to reach into the screen and steal the materia as it began summoning.

 **Seconds later, Zack finds himself inside Ifrit's pocket dimension, where he is forced into battle with the fiery creature. Just as before, Zack seemingly overcame Ifrit, before being knocked back. A fireball closed in on Zack, when suddenly, the ball was sliced. Looking up, Zack saw that his would-be rescuer was none other than Sephiroth.**

 _The real one!_ Both Cloud and Tifa simultaneously shifted into an antagonistic stance the instant he appeared. The other non-Shinra looked at them curiously, not understanding what was so special about him, and why they were so aggressive the last time the digital version appeared.

 **Barely a second after, Sephiroth charged towards Ifrit and cut it down in a single slice.**

Those watching who knew only rumors and media representation of him looked on in awe at the sheer power shown in that single slice. Others, Turks and Nibelheim survivors were tense as they knew the wanton destruction he could and would later cause.

 **Zack is not exempt from being awed at Sephiroth. As soon as the pocket dimension dissipates, Sephiroth walked over to the nearby bodies and removed their masks, revealing identical faces that Sephiroth revealed to be that of Genesis, the 1st class deserter.**

"The &*# is going on?!"

"Genesis copies." People turned to look at Tseng, but he provided no more information as the video continued.

 **As Zack takes in the news of Genesis copies, Sephiroth asks him where Angeal is. Upon discovering he isn't around Sephiroth declares that Angeal has betrayed them, with Zack refusing to believe it.**

As the non-Shinra views start asking questions about what exactly is going on to the Shinra personnel, Cloud sat still with a deep sense of foreboding when the words copy were said.

"Copy…"

"Cloud?" Tifa turned to face Cloud as he repeated the word copy over and over.

"What does it mean."

"Hmm?" Sixteen turned to face Cloud.

"You heard me, why do I know those two words? Genesis copy. I know it's important somehow, but I can't recall why."

Upon hearing this, Sixteen smirked at Cloud. "So close, yet so far, perhaps if you watched Loveless you'd remember."

"Tell me!" Cloud drew the buster blade from where it rested next to his chair, leveling the blade so where the tip rested on Sixteen's neck.

Sixteen looked at Cloud for a second before spoke.

" **Sit down Cadet**." Sixteen's voice deepened and became commanding for just a second. That was all that was needed. Cloud could not resist as his arms moved against his will to place his blade back next to his chair and as his legs forced him back down into the chair to face the screen.

After Cloud sat down, Sixteen looked across the room to see everyone staring at what had just happened, with quite a few people looking horrified at the way he just commanded Cloud to sit down without a fight.

Sixteen cleared his throat for a second before continuing on.

"Well then everyone, let's continue on then, shall we?"

A/N

 **Help with reactions please.**

 **You know, I actually had forgotten that I had brought along Marlene. Even after remembering that, I wasn't really going to draw attention to that, but when I looked through I thought some people might get a laugh at Marlene trying to comfort Yuffie after getting embarrassed.**

 **If you want to beta or help write, go ahead. As previously stated, if someone thinks they can do it better, please do. I would love to read some fics that I think about with better writing. Just don't copy and paste. Although I just copied and pasted my own statement**

 **As always, read, review, critique, help me**


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